Can print images but not text on TR4522 (bought in 2019)

[JaciS]

I unexpectedly ran out of black ink (I estimated I still had more life to it).  No retail stores near me.  Found a repair shop that had used cartridges.  Bought one.  Came home and it wouldn't work.  Was told to override the ink status but that didn't work either.  Tried to get an answer here but was told they don't support other ink cartridges. 

So, I finally got back to the guy that sold me the used one.  He said it was used only because a person brought in a printer that died and this was in it and it was still over 1/2 full.  This was going to hold me over until I could get one online due in Aug. 6th!

So I kept trying to get it to work - cleaned heads several times.  Test prints were not great, but did work somewhat.  Now I cannot print a text or pdf.  Png comes out in light grays.  But I made a gradiant image going from white to very dark grey.  That prints without any issues.  Why can't I print text, but can print images?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Just want to be clear.  I never said "the community doesn't support other ink cartridges".  I said no one can guarantee that a used or 3rd party ink cartridge would work or be compatible.   

Canon does not recommend or support using used or 3rd party inks for sure.  

Solved: Deleting Ink Status from PIXMA TR4522 - Canon Community

You also said there might be a problem with your device, but never confirmed.  Your now state the printer is working "somewhat".  I hope you can figure it out.  Maybe someone else here will have some additional suggestions.

[JaciS]

Shadowsports, thank you for your replies.  Let me rephrase my questions, I may have put in too much information that confused my questions:

1. Has Canon blocked the ability to turn off the ink status function?  I can't seem to make it go away.
2. My second question is why am I able to print an image but not text?  A gradiant image prints perfectly but text is light gray with white streaks.

Am I correct in my understanding that the printer calculates the amount of ink available strictly by counting printed pages?  Can this function not be correct?  A few weeks ago I printed a document and left the room to get my lunch.  Came back and had 60 pages each with a couple dots on them and nothing else.  Could the printer have counted all of these nearly blank pages as if they were full of text.  If so, that would explain why it acts like I ran out of ink much sooner than I expected.

Or, could the function of the printer counting pages be malfunctioning?

My recently purchased cartridge is an official Canon cartridge that was in a printer that died and is approximately 1/2 full.  But it won't print either - it acts like the printer is still reading the ink levels from my other cartridge.

Is the information about ink levels coming from the cartridges or the printer?

I really do appreciate any insights.  I am past my urgent printing project - had to pay the local library to print for me.  Now I have time to try to figure it out. But, I still don't want to buy new cartridges for a dead printer, nor do I want to buy a new printer because of a bad cartridge.

I can't figure it out from the symptons I am experiencing.

[JaciS]

I printed a photograph, then I printed a word document with the same photograph embedded.  Finally I the word document without the photo.  These are the results:

Photo by itself, full page, - printed perfectly

Photo embedded in a document - colored text printed, black text did not print, but the photo again printed

Text document only - colors printed, but not the black.

So going through all of this I am 100% positive it is not the ink cartridge but has to be something within the printer.

My solution - toss this printer and buy a new one - one with a megatank so I never have to go through this again.  I'm leaving this open, just in case someone else has an opinion as to why I can print images but not text.

[Mike]

Make sure the cartridge you've replaced is the PG-245 Black cartridge that's compatible with your PIXMA TR4522, and that the printer recognizes it as having ink in it. If it is the correct cartridge, it may be a faulty cartridge. 

[JaciS]

It is the correct cartridge.  Before I replaced the cartridge, the printer indicated I was out of ink - but I should have had a lot of pages left (like over 100 pages).  I don't print very much, so I do track what I print.  The printer was also showing white streaks as if it was out of ink. 

After I changed the cartridge it was still showing low ink.  That when I tried to override the ink status feature - which didn't work.

Can you explain if the printing commands are in the cartridge or the printer? 

Why can I print large photographs with all colors appearing correctly: black, white, and various shades of blues and greens?  Then when I print a word document with blue, yellow, red, green, and black text everything prints except for the black text?

[Mike]

Since you stated that you've already tried several cleanings with mixed results, it really does sound like either a faulty or empty black ink cartridge. You stated it printed a little bit after the cleaning but not much afterwards.

Perhaps the store miscalculated how much ink was actually left in the used cartridge? We'd recommend trying a new cartridge when you're able to obtain one. If it still has issues after that, there may be an issue with the print head itself, and you'd need to make the decision to either replace the print head or the entire printer. 

[JaciS]

I ordered a new printer. Not going to spend another $50 testing a $90 2-year old printer.

But I sure would like to understand how the printer communicates with the cartridge and why it prints one type of document and not another.

That part just doesn't make sense. And unfortunately, even though I am replacing the printer, not knowing is going to drive me crazy.